Don Bankhead Enters Exclusive Club
Chris Nguyen, who runs a blog called OC Political, says recently recalled Fullerton City Councilman Don Bankhead has just been initiated into a very exclusive club. According to Nguyen’s research (and I can’t vouch for that) only two men in American history have ever been recalled twice from the same job.
The first is some guy named James W. Holley who was mayor of Portsmouth, Virginia from 1984-1987 and again from 2008-2010. Each stint was punctuated by a recall. And now, with trumpets blaring and drums rolling, enters the august personage of Donald T. Bankhead, Fullerton City Council 1988-1994 and 1994-2012.
And of course I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that if Nguyen is accurate, then Bankhead is the only office holder in the 162 year history of California to be recalled twice from the same office. And that’s a damn impressive accomplishment.
good morning!
“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.” TOO BAD FOR BANKHEAD WINTER’S COMING…
In all of American history, Bankhead is only the second elected official to be recalled twice?
http://s16.postimage.org/w6twm4adh/exclusive_club.png
It may be his greatest achievement yet, but with his resilience who knows what the future may hold.
Next stop for all three is “Brighten Gardens”.
These idiots aren’t out the door yet. Let’s see what, if anything, they do in the next 30 days…. The countdown to July 17 begins now!!!
Hopefully the rest of the council will vote down anything these three amigos want to do in the next 30 days…. for the rest of the council now knows what will happen if the people are not served properly!
Never back down!
Fullerton needs to take SOME accountability for their short term memory and voting him back in again and again and again. I voted to out him this time, but in the back of my mind I keep thinking that Fullerton kept allowing this minion from Hades to rule them. Is Fullerton suffering Stockholm Syndrome?
*Nonya ducks in preparation for the fallout of this comment*
No flying objects from me 🙂
And you are 100% right. The wrong has been righted now, and let’s hope the new folks begin a transparent council, and the citizens pay more attention to what’s going on there.
For Bankhead, it’s like he waited for 10 years for the dust to settle then stepped back in to the ring… sneaky, effective, it worked. Hopefully no more!
I agree with you Nonya B… to a certain extent. I believe that the voters of Fullerton were seriously hoodwinked about the level of malfeasance and corruption that was occurring in the FPD, due to the immoral majority on our City Council continually making out-of-court settlements with victims to avoid any of their stories ever making it into court and becoming public record.
What Ron Thomas did by not deciding to take the city’s offer of an out-of-court settlement, was extremely important for all of us who had sought transparency in Fullerton and had been repeatedly denied.
Holley was also recalled not just for what he did but what he didn’t do. The vote followed a controversy over Holley’s refusal to intervene….. Let that be a lesson to future city council members to be leaders, and not “just lawmakers” as former Mayor Jones has stated who failed to take the lead after the Police chief skipped town.
Well good morning FFFF!
How’s everything in Fullerton this morning? Appears crisp, clear, and joyful.
Have a wonderful weekend!
😉
About time you showed up Don. Have you called Atlas van lines to move your stuff out of city hall yet?
Take about 30% of your pension and put it towards helping FPD stay afloat.
When OCSD comes to town I think you get out of jail free cards will be all used up.
Karma is a bitch, and 66% of the voters said so.
You have a wonderful weeked to!
Don would answer it this way:
I only had a few pencils and a pad of paper. I took it with me when I left the last meeting.
I have two pensions. I’m donating 10% to the homeless.
OCSD rules. I like them. I’m sure everyone will be happy whatever happens.
Yes 66% of the people that showed which was what? 25% of registered voters? Missed that exact number.
Yes Karma is like love.
Time to enjoy my last few years at the Fullerton bars.
Love, Don
Lol 🙂
“Reality”, you speak in the same teasing voice as the Zodiac Killer. Taunting, cold, playful and always coming across as knowing a lot more than the rest of us. Send us a cryptogram and challenge us to figure out who you really are.
By the way, Zodiac was a sexual sadist. Seems to be a recurring theme at FPD. For those of that don’t know, check…
http://www.zodiackiller.com
THESE BOSSES WILL BEEF UP THE FPD SALARY’S AND THE FPD PENSION PACKAGE. EXPECT THE CORRUPT COPS TO ALL BAIL OUT ON DISABILITY PENSIONS THIS SUMMER.
TAX FREE PENSIONS AND LIFETIME MEDICAL
WHAT A DEAL.
THEY ALL HAVE NEW JOBS TO GO TO AND BUILD ANOTHER PENSION. THE LAST LAUGH WHILE THE TAXPAYERS ARE STUCK WIT ALL THE FUTURE SETTLEMENTS THE THIEVES LEAVE US.
HE HE HE HA HA HA
“Jerry” you make me yawn. About a week ago you were so sure the recall was going to fail.
SACRAMENTO – Several years ago, Fullerton Councilman Dick Jones cornered me at a political event, asked my opinion on the use of eminent domain by city governments, then began to lecture me about the value of giving government officials the power to push private property owners off their land on behalf of economic development projects. Since then, I’ve watched in amusement as Jones pontificated in his Texas drawl on one foolish thing after another.
There was the time he opposed a building project simply because he didn’t like its design, explaining that, as a plastic surgeon, he knows beauty. Here was a man who knew no limits on government power, who for years ruled the council based on personal edicts and his strange take on the world.
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/council-358005-city-recall.html
My favorite story: After Jones went on some tirade in which he misspoke and referred to a nonexistent country of Kharakastan, the Fullerton’s Future bloggers penned an apology to Jones, explaining that he was right, and they were wrong. There really is such a country, they explained, and they linked to a Wikipedia entry they created that listed Kharakastan’s most popular attractions.
I laughed hysterically but sensed that the city’s leaders were none too amused by the satire.
LOL LOL LOL
What a total loser.
That could leave a great legacy for his family successors to look back on, eh?
If Nyguen’s research holds true the future generations of Bankheads might look back and say: “Hey, did you notice that back in 2012 our black sheep family member “Don” got kicked out of the same office twice and set a national record?”
What a dark cloud to live under that would be!
“Bankhead is the only office holder in the 162 year history of California to be recalled twice from the same office. And that’s a damn impressive accomplishment.”………. Hmmmmmmm
Since Bankhead couldn’t have been twice recalled without being twice elected the award of impressiveness goes to Fullerton voters not to Bankhead.
I wonder if Bankhead will run for City Council for a third time in a few years?
In general, voters are so stupid and have such short memories old crome dome meathead would probably get elected again.
I’m sorry if it has been explained already, but what was Bankhead recalled for last time?
Click on the link to Nguyen’s story: http://ocpolitical.com/2012/06/08/only-two-men-recalled-two-times/
Nguyen explained Bankhead’s first recall and both of Holley’s recalls there.
How did the guy get re-elected right after he was Recalled?
Better not happen again.
Ok, thank you.
Wow…he was actually voted back in just 5 months later?! How in the world did he manage that?!
Can someone who lived in Fullerton in 1994 explain how that happened?
I think this time is going to be completely different. He’s done. A lot of people around now were too young to have voted in 1994. I would have only been 16 years old then. Also, a lot of people still didn’t have computers back then, and the Internet was barely getting started. Now, everything is online and we read about things instantly. So the demographics have changed completely. Now there is a younger generation of voters who are much more aware of what’s going on.
If I had been living in Fullerton and I had been old enough to vote in 1994, I sure as hell wouldn’t have re-elected this idiot.
been around Fullerton long-time. Yes, I was a voting adult even back then in what seems like the recent past to me but it isn’t for many FFFF bloggers. Chris is correct about lack of info due to lack of sophisticated internet.
Fullerton has and had a transient population from the 1980’s to 2000 due to the closure of main employers in our town, Hughes aircraft and Hunts Foods. Couple this with the fact that city of Fullerton;s government has been the plaything of the few who live near Fullerton’s downtown or in the affluent hills due to voter apathy on part of most city of fullerton residents.
Prior to the internet, political movements like the 1994 recall was limited to flyers usually handed out by supermarkets and mailers. There existed little dialogue between Fullerton’s politicians or political movements and the community of Fullerton. so, it was easy to be recalled and re-elected because very few people pulled the strings back then. The main source of info on Fullerton politics, until FFFF blogiste ,was cursory, fluff pieces by OC Register or the Fullerton Observer that promoted Fullerton politicians or political hopefuls with biased articles. Frankly, until FFFF, I always thought the Fullerton Observer promoted political hopefuls or Fullerton politicians in exchange for favors, but I digress with my opinion here,
Though the old three men, Jones, Bankhead and McKinley accuse Tony Bushala of buying the recall with his fists full of cash, the scariest development in politics to old school politicians is the cheap media like the FFFF that uses facts, documents to support their positions instead of union dollars, tax dollars and campaign contributions with strings attached to greedy developers to buy persuasion.
New world order in info doesn’t require dollar signs or yard signs, only a blog site that allows dialogue that kills voter apathy and encourages exchange of opinions, ideas that form informed opinions.
In reply to #27
I absolutely agree with you on the power of the internet as a source of information. However, I wouldn’t point to FFFF as a forum for ‘dialogue’ it’s a pretty typical blog with lots of nutcases, extremists with a few nuggets of information and real dialogue. By the way, do you think the recall would have worked without, at least, most of Mr. B’s $200k?
Good comment. Prepare to be ankle-bitten.
Greg why is you blog so lame and pathetic? Your only “dialog” is you and the oddball Vern Nelson chattering at each other.
Enough already. We all know you want to be one of the popular kids, but it just isn’t going to happen.
How do you propose that the residents of Fullerton counteract the $25-50,000.00 worth of influence peddling that the public employees unions have purchased to counter the recall of the three City Councilman?
The power of name recognition.
I dont think many Americans follow Politics, thats why TV ads just before election day are so important in the election process. (They got a lot to hide, very many find it ridiculous anyway. Its a Duopoly, and sickening)
I often wonder what these douchbags’ families and friends think of them and of their dubious deeds against the city for their own financial gain.
I have a friend of over 30 years that I always respected for his level head, but this past year he has employed some pretty underhanded and illegal means in order to increase his business, and his actions have made me take stock of our friendship.
Is there any personal fallout for these assholes?
I sure hope so.
Say what you will, the blue haired folks get out and vote, either in person or via mail in ballots. If the rest of the people got out and voted, it would have been more of a landslide than it was……….Anyway, as the blue haired folks get older and their numbers dwindle, the influence wanes…….This isn’t your father’s political arena anymore where Dan Rather and Walter Kronkite were on tv at 6pm every night……Politics is now a multi-faceted labrynth to navigate, with the Internet, blogs, etc…. playing a key role. We saw evidence of that earlier this week. The blue haired folks have not quite grasped that concept yet.
There is a new sheriff in town (the City Council) and business as usual is over.
The Chinese had to wait til the Old Guard died before they could change some things.
Your arrogance, smugness and general disdain for the elderly or as you call them “blue haired folks” is telling. I don’t care which side you’re on, you don’t represent my side.